Brickell City Centre tower nearly half sold

The $1 billion-plus Brickell City Centre may be the most anticipated real estate project in Miami. And for those wondering, yes, the condominiums have gone on sale and, no, you don’t have to be a millionaire to live there, although it certainly would help.

Current prices for a one-bedroom unit range from $580,000 to $700,000. Two-bedrooms are generally priced at $700,000 to $1 million, said Alan Araujo, international sales liaison for One Sotherby’s International Realty.

The firm is jointly marketing City Centre’s preconstruction condo units with Fortune International Realty for the project’s developer, Swire Properties, a division of Hong Kong-based conglomerate Swire Pacific.

Most of City Centre’s condos will have three or fewer bedrooms, but there will be units with four and five bedrooms. Most of the larger units range from $2.15 million to $2.7 million. The complex will also feature several penthouses, ranging from about $3 million to $8 million.

The difference in prices for similar-sized units is mainly due to their location in the towers.

“The higher up you go, the higher the price,” Mr. Araujo said.

He said the project has been attracting a lot of prospective buyers from the New York City area, as well as those from South American markets such as Brazil.

Two 43-floor towers, each with 390 units, dubbed Reach and Rise, are being built as part of the first phase of City Centre.

Swire began selling units in the Reach condo tower on the east side of the site May 29 and, so far, nearly half of those units have been sold, said Maile Aguila, senior vice president for Swire Properties in Miami.

She said units in the Rise tower at the west end of the site are expected to go on sale soon.

The first-phase units are expected to be fully delivered for residency by late 2015 or January 2016.

In addition to the condo towers, the first phase includes a shopping mall with department stores and restaurants, a hotel, serviced apartments, business offices, a wellness center, swimming pools, entertainment space and underground parking.

Ms. Aguila said the condo sales are “going straight to contract” rather than taking reservations like most condo projects, with sales contracts between seller and buyer becoming final after 15 days.

Buyers are required to provide deposits equal to half the sales price at different stages prior to delivery, with the other half due at delivery of the units. She said that “deposit structure” is indicative of the high level of buyer interest in City Centre.

Between buyer and seller, she added, the structure represents “a full commitment from both sides.”

Regarding the quality of the project, she said: “The units are really finished out with great appointments… There’s Italian kitchen cabinetry, marble flooring throughout, and top-end appliances.”

Swire has opened a sales gallery for the units in the former Northern Trust Bank building at 700 Brickell Ave. where it is to later build an 80-story mixed-use tower.

In addition to New York City and Brazil, she said, the project is attracting a lot of buyer interest from the Northeast US in general, as well as from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela and other places in South and Central America.

Roughly 60% of the first-phase condos are planned to be two-bedroom units. The exact mix could change, Mr. Araujo said, depending on “what the demand is” as the project continues.

The first phase is between Southeast Seventh and Eighth streets, about a block west of Brickell Avenue from the Eighth Street Metromover Station west to South Miami Avenue, with another parcel from South Miami Avenue west to Southwest First Avenue, across the street from the Metrorail line.

The second phase is planned just north of the first phase between Southeast Sixth and Seventh streets and would feature another tower dubbed North Squared with 350 condo units, Mr. Araujo said.

A third phase – the 80-story One Brickell City Centre on Brickell Avenue between Southeast Seventh and Eighth streets – would include 256 condo units, according to Crane
spotters.com, a website that tracks condo projects.

The third phase currently is in the design stage, Ms. Aguila said.

Like a true salesman, Mr. Araujo isn’t modest about the product he’s selling.

“This is the most expected project in South Florida, not just Miami,” he said. “Everything that’s going on [with construction] in Brickell is because of Brickell City Centre.”

Anyone wonder how these units will be used by out of town buyers: rentals, second homes, other? While the purchase prices seem at the high end, it would seem that the influx of new rental units would ultimately drive down rental prices.